Paperless

Author David Sparks

Description

Version 1.4, Updated February 2014

Paperless was selected as one of the "Best of 2012" by the iBooks Store.

Paperless takes the mystery (and fear) out of going paperless with your Apple technology. The book includes 32 screencasts, 4 movies, over 26,000 words, and other rich-media assets to turn you into a paperless ninja. The material is accessible to beginners and power users alike with a thorough explanation of all the hardware, software, and workflows necessary to finally conquer paper.

Chapters include:
1. Why Paperless
What is the big deal with paperless and why do so many of us struggle with it?

2. Paperless Overview
Get an idea for the big picture before diving into the nitty-gritty.

3. Capture
Discover how you can capture paper and other digital information with the Mac, iPad, and iPhone. This chapter also demystifies optical character recognition and explains how you can put it to work for you.

5. Use
Now that you've created a paperless workflow, learn how to access your paperless documents from anywhere on the Mac, iPad, and iPhone. This chapter also explains how to sign digital documents on the Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

7. Appendix
Learn more about Apple Automator, cloud storage, and other helpful resources.

This is the first book in the MacSparky Field Guide Series. This book is a large file (850 MB) and includes over 1.5 hours of video and screencasts. This books runs on all versions of the iPad.

Top Customer Reviews

A Great Resource for Going Paperless

5

From Matt_Y

The book contains many great strategies for going paperless and the interactive elements make the concepts easy to understand and apply. I also learned many tools and tips that will serve me well beyond their application to a paperless process.

Excellent

Excellent book. I have started to use many of the ideas and practices that David writes about and learning many more. I look forward to going completely paperless.

A must read for all

5

From Rad Geezer

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's witty and practical with tons of samples and examples of how to do it.
It's also a great example of what can be done with the new iBooks Author format.

Paperless

5

From Des Dougan

Excellent content, and a great example of how to create an excellent interactive reference. The videos work really well and swiping them into full screen is so straightforward. David has a great talent for communicating ideas in easily understood ways and he clearly knows his subject extremely well.

Read the fine print.

4

From Alveus

I don't know why, but I assumed I could read this on my Mac. Not so much. Must be read on an iPad, which I don't have, and probably won't have for a while. I'm sure it's a great book, but for me, it's five bucks down the tube.
***UPDATE*** I just noticed that David has made the book available in PDF format from his website. Looks awesome, thanks!

Excellent resource

5

From jonbca7

This is an excellent guide and resource for making your life have a little less paper in it. It's just technical enough for knowledgeable people to have some dots connected, yet not so deep that beginners are lost. Great job walking that line.

Really Worthwhile for a new Mac User

5

From BC Garden Lover

This book shows how iAuthor can be used to make a book using text and screencasts. The combination of the written word, the visual examples as well as the spoken word really enhance all the examples. There is a lot of attention to detail, especially importance of file naming and organization. As a new user to Macs it not only helped my efforts in going paperless but showed some basics of the macs that I didn't know about. Good explanation of document scanners, TextExpander and Hazel. Best 5 bucks i have spent in awhile. Looking forward to more Field Guides.

Worth every cent!!

5

From On2Java

When I switched from the PC world to the Mac side two years ago, I listened to all of David's and Katie's podcasts on Mac Power users - and I became very efficient with my Mac's.
I love how this book is written, especially with the short screencasts (for the visual learner like me). I am still reading this book and the chapter on file naming and scanner workflow has already changed how I now work. It's like magic! I can't wait to upgrade my scanner to take advantage of the workflow with Hazel.
If you are looking for a nice easy read with short screencasts - this is the book to get. Every time I listen to or read David's articles, I pickup something new... Thanks for all your efforts - it's very much appreciated.

A must buy if you want to go paperless with your Mac!

5

From mrichard00

I've been attempting to go paperless for the past 6 months with some success. I've spent a lot of time listening to the MacPowerUsers podcast that has provided me with a lot of guidance on how to get started and manage the process efficiently, but this guide takes it one step further. Every page has something new for me, sometimes something very basic but helpful and sometimes something amazing that will save me lots of time in my quest for a paperless home.
I'm also finding the book a joy to read. This is the first book I've purchased that has used iBook Author and I'll just say it's the way an ebook of this nature should be made. The integrated videos are fantastic and it's incredibly helpful to be able to watch David demonstrate the steps instead of simply reading a step by step instruction list or a series of screencasts.
The only thing that I've thought might be more helpful would be discussing more than one app for each particular task (ie. scanning apps for the iPhone). However, I don't get the impression the book was intended to do this and I'm fine with reviewed the alternate apps myself.
If you are interested in going paperless, want to improve your paperless workflow, or even just want to see what an iBook Author work looks like, you really can't go wrong for five dollars here.
And to David, keep the field guides coming!